Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-10-08
AN INDIAN FIGHTER.
General George 4. Forsyth and His Re markable Experiences.
 Chicago MaiID

General George A. Forsyth is at the CnicHRo Club on a short fari0ugh from hls ArizODR post. after several years absence from Chicago. Not many people who were acquainted with the man would suspect that Sandy" FoIsyth's quiet, al- most reilIlng, demesnor belongs to one O. the famous soldiers of the army. Par tiouisrly ;s ne noted as Rn Indian fight CT. h ihe old turbulent day 8 they used tJ say on the frontier that Forsyth was one of the few army men who could start alter depreostiUg savases and whlp them without wssling t;me in military red tape. His best fight and ore of the most gallant ever seen on the plains was st Beecher's Island, nearly twenty years age. With fifty-one men, mostly scouts and frontiersmen, Forsyth encamped one night on this little island, in the lat the 5eRsOn) dry fork of the Republican rlver. At day break the camp wss arous- cd oy var whoops and shots on every side. Tbe hills weIe covered with more than thousand Indians. led by Roman Nose, celebrated chief. Back of them were their squags and children waiting 10 terminate with horrible mutila!icn inc daughter ot the white men. The
 
 with the most approved rifles and had plenty ot ammunition. They poured ID voilsy after vOlley. By 9 o'clock all of forsyth's horses were killed, and twenty fnr.e of his men were dead or wounded. The little command fired spariuglT. but every shot ot .he frontiersmen told. At DO o'clock 100 of the mounted In diRns were drawn up ID a solId phalsnS hNs l.- k.. A l. medicine mRn. The others acted us ar tillery, pouTing deadly fire into the scouts which compelled each man to shrink behind the bresstworks they had improvised of dead animals This continued half sn hour and then to the sound of the hugle the charge was made. The savage hcst. magnificent sIgh:, thundered down upon the gallant Lttte band. When fifty feet away the scouts sprsng 10 their feet and their rifles cracked. The charge taltered under the whitening fire, hesitated and broke, almost at arms length from For syth and his men. leaving a score of say ages.snd Roman Nose and the medicine man dead on the field. Gan they do any better than thatg" asked sandy" of Grover. his cniei scout. Il have been on the plains thirty years general" the latter answered, and never saw such a charge. They can't do better" Then we'll lick them yet" said Forsyth. The ssvages made another ettemp. to dis- lodge the defenders aud were again re pulsed. Nigh, closed the fight. leaving Forsyth with nearly hall hIs command. either dead or disabled, his surgeon dead. himself wounded m both legs and in the head. provisions exhausted and the near es. help hundred miles away. Sandy" grssped the favorable points of the sit- nation. He caused the unwounded to dig six feet for water. strengthen their in.renchments by throwing up earth. and prepared for famine by cutting steaks from the dead Rnimals. No words were needed 10 cheer the men, they were all fighters. One. n lad of IS. had fought all day with sn arrow sticking in his forehead. Another msn had his eye knocked out by bullet, but said nothing till night. Two scouts were selected to make the desperate attempt tO pierce the Indian line ard reach Fort Wallace. They procured moccasIus from the feet of cIsin .svnges. They walked mile back ward to give the Indians the impression the tracks were those of their own men approaching the island. The following day the indians fred scarcely q shot. That night two more men tried io set through tc the fort. but were driven back. Mex. day the attack was renewed. The savsges tried the old flag of truce srtifce. By exposing themselves they endesvored to draw the fire of the scouts, thus eIh4usting the lstter's ammunition. Nos until the fourth day did the redskins begin to withdrew, fairly beaten, though the odds in their favor were seventeen to one.
 Two days later the cavalry guidon of endorsements from Fort Wallace sp- pesred over the horizon, and Sandy" and his men we're relieved.